


Intervention by Plague

by Mapleseruhp



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Death, Despair, Gen, Horror, Loss, Magical Boys, Magical Girls, Zombies, tradgedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-27 09:08:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5042380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mapleseruhp/pseuds/Mapleseruhp





	1. One

_Just as a note, i've changed Carl's age to thirteen for plots sake. Also, I've changed it so that the canon events of Puella Magi Madoka Magica actually took place roughly around Georgia. I'm not a US resident so my geography will be wrong in some points. Feel free to correct me in the comments if I get anything wrong (besides what I've stated above). Everything beyond Rick Reuniting with Carl and the zombie attack will be drastically changed. Unfortunately, this work will infact replace Intervention by Bleached Fate as I do not have any drive to write it. I also feel as if I am copying another work therefore I wish to do my own thing._

_There are also a few tweaks to Homura's parents to make this story work._

_There is a ff.net version under the same name and account if you prefer that website. This one will hopefully have witch cards and runes._

* * *

_Carl:_

It was a normal day- well, as normal as one in a zombie apocalypse could be. Maybe it was something in the air, but Carl knew this was an important day. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something was definitely up. It was like one of those days where you knew something important was going to happen. Good or bad, shit would be going down. Following his gut's instincts had kept him alive so far, so he'd be on his toes today for sure.

The refreshing breeze carried the scent of leaves and grass through his nostrils, making him inhale deeply. Carl savored anything relaxing, as such luxuries were hard to come by. He watched with awe over the valley before him. It was beautiful, in stark comparison of the horrors of this new world.

Mother had given him the day off and allowed him to unwind. Although in his opinion, he was just wasting time that could be spent gathering food or supplies. God forbid him actually asking to go with the rest of the group to town. His mother was already unhappy with the idea of him hanging around the woods, even though he could easily run back to camp in under thirty seconds. He wasn't even that far, and could still see camp from the rock on which he sat. Carl couldn't help but roll his eyes whenever his over protective mother worried too much, but he restrained himself some times. The world had ended after all, and even he knew death could be around the corner. Even so, Carl saw no harm in living a little.

Even if the vernal breeze brought hope against his despair, there was a hopelessness rooted deep inside him. Before the Apocalypse, Carl had thought of himself as well behaved and courageous. Now he froze whenever he saw a walker and sometimes even cried. When his mother had reassured him it was a normal reaction to such horrors, he couldn't help but think lowly of himself too. He had no skills whatsoever, and couldn't defend himself if needed. Why couldn't his mother let him use a gun? If he did, maybe he wouldn't feel so helpless. It would probably be a good boost to his already low self esteem. Anything that could help him was what he wanted. Anything at all, regardless of the cost. He knew his future was bleak, considering the circumstances.

Carl almost jumped off the rock when he heard a voice behind him. No, it wasn't behind him, but everywhere at once, something in his head. Maybe all this tragedy had caused him to become mentally ill. The group had no room for someone like that, so he prayed it wasn't the case.

_Hello there Carl Grimes, could you spare a moment? I promise you it will be worth your while._

If you were to tell him a stuffed animal would have walked up to him, he'd roll his eyes and walk away. He felt like doing the same, until his brain finally realized what had actually happened. This was an actual stuffed animal that had spoken telepathically to him. It had creepy eyes too, but it was probably just a design mistake. It was an eerie thing, something he had to be careful about. What if this was actually some mutant? That could be possible, considering the world had already gone to hell and hell knew what contaminants were polluting the earth.

He knew that probably wasn't the case, and he was probably just hallucinating. His mother had once brought him back a few textbooks from a middle school, hoping to educate him even if just by a bit.

"I have lots of time."

It was true. Besides, talking to a stuffed animal was better than being attacked by walkers. He'd take this eerie little thing over the drooling monsters any day.

_Good, I have much to talk with you about!_

Carl snorted, this thing was so serious. But he couldn't blame the thing, everything was so serious nowadays. It was dog eat dog and nobody had time for foolishness.

"Go ahead. I'm willing to listen to a weird rabbit thing"

In his defense, Carl had no idea what animal the living plushy took after. Was it a rabbit or a cat? It seemed to be a mix of both, and even if Carl wouldn't dare admit it, he thought it was quite cute.

_My name is Kyubey. Before Humanity fell to plague, I granted wishes to girls and turned them into Magical Girls to fight witches and protect the world. I went into hiding during the fall, but have finally returned and found you._

Carl believed him for now. It was a living stuffed animal that talked telepathically, so he really had no other choice. Had Kyubey insulted him? What kind of name was that anyway? Carl never knew if he should take offense. To him, he was obviously male, but did he really look that androgynous to others? Maybe it was a Kyubey thing and they had bad vision or whatever. The creature never seemed to have pupil's so that could have been the case. The wish part hadn't passed over him. In fact, that was what he was most curious about. Could he wish for anything? If that was the case, he would obviously wish for all the walkers to disappear.

"I'm a boy by the way. Do the wishes you grant have any limits?" Carl wanted to get right into this. The sooner he made his wish the better, he didn't care about the Magical Girl or Witch part.

_Yes I know, but you are a good candidate for my new batch of Magical girls, except they will now be named Magi Kinder, or just a correctly gendered version of Magical Girl if it suits you. Unfortunately, wishes do have limits. The possibilities of the wish depends on your potential, which you have a higher than average amount. I'm going to tell you this now, but wishing for the world to return to normal or anything along those lines would be impossible. This plague is a set point in the universe's history and can never be rewritten. Even the powers of a god couldn't change this event. However, my wishes are otherwise limitless! I can bend reality to give you a never ending feast, or just give you a unicorn and eternal beauty._

Carl was expecting as such. He was used to disappointment by now, but still tried to find light in otherwise dark rooms. He alone couldn't bring everything back to normal, and deep down, he always knew such. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one he wouldn't dare waste. If he couldn't wish for his first desire, then his second would be the way to go. Eternal beauty wasn't something he wanted, but apparently this creature was used to dealing with girls. While the unicorn was appealing, he had to be smarter about his wish.

"How do these wishes work?"

Kyubey jumped up on Carl's lap, causing him to flinch slightly.

_After I fulfill your wish, I will give you a Soul Gem, which in turns makes you an official Magical boy. Soul gems are the source of a Magi Kinder's power, so if you decide to take my offer, you should protect it. If you have a Soul Gem, you can use magic, but using magic pollutes your Soul Gems, which must be cleaned. To clean a Soul Gem, you must use a Grief Seed on it, which can be obtained after killing a witch. A witch is a curse or negative emotion that has festered inside a person and broken free. Since there is so much despair and hatred in the world now, there are even more witches than before. Witches spread despair wherever they nest, and are responsible for most suicides and other tragedies. Now they also come from regular people! Could you imagine?_

It surprisingly made sense, but it was still a lot for Carl to take in. He knew his wish was worth fighting these Witch creatures, and wasn't he also protecting them by fighting Witches? It seemed like a good deal; one to end his hopelessness. Carl already knew his wish, and was certain it was what he wanted.

"I don't want to be helpless anymore, I want to be able to protect those I care about even if I am scared"

Carl bit down on his tongue at the pain that followed. Seconds after saying his wish, Kyubey had reached his hands into him and caused an excruciating amount of pain. But if his wish came true, it was worth it. He couldn't let his mother hear his pain, as it would make her worry more than she already was. Carl would keep this a secret from her. His mother already had so much on her plate, everybody did. He didn't want to worry anymore.

Suddenly, a bronze-ish glow was cast upon him and his surroundings. A bronze colored gem in the shape of an egg floated out before him. It was gilded in what looked like gold with a deputy star shaped design at the top. The bottom of the gem had a flat circular shape, which was etched to represent a similar yet different design.

_Carl grimes, the contract is complete. Your wish have overcome entropy. I have something of dire urgency to handle, and will be returning soon. Actually, do not use any of your power until I return For now, just turn it into a ring or whatever suits you. Will your soul gem to change forms, and it will do so._

It was probably not something to be excited about, but could he really do that? Was this even happening? Never in his wildest dreams could he ever imagine up anything of this caliber. This was a god damn apocalypse, nothing good like this could ever have been expected. Maybe miracles really did happen. This was his chance to be strong and courageous.

Carl quickly did as he told, although he was unsure of what exactly to did. Somehow he had done it right, as the Soul Gem glowed briefly before changing into a ring and falling into his open palms.

It looked really cool. It looked to be silver, as the color was slightly different from normal metal. It wasn't even tarnish and rusted like everything else in the world. It was amazing. There were weird letters on the back, like a foreign language. He could count four characters, but couldn't read them. The words felt familiar to him, but scrambled in some way. He flipped it over, and the small badge shaped gem glimmered in the sun. It was the same pattern on his soul gem, also sharing the same color color. The ring was simple and sturdy looking, it was thick. Even though it was simple, it had its own sort of elegance to it.

There was nothing left to see from the ring, so it was put on quickly. Carl shook his hand to see if it would come off his left middle finger. It stayed put; he had figured so. It was perfectly sized for his smaller than normal hands. It felt snug on him, and made him feel safe. It was now that he noticed the brown star shape on his nail. It was odd, as boys traditionally never wore nail paint. However, he didn't really care. It was a trivial matter to him, yet it never bothered him too much as boys never traditionally became magical.

Carl could barely containment his excutement when he returned to the camp. A few eyebrows were raised at his ring, and a few inquired about its origins. He hadn't planned for this, so he lied about finding it in the woods and painting his nail with a marker. A twinge of uncertainty went though him when he felt Sophia's eyes on the ring, but she only looked at it with large sparkling oness. Maybe she could become a Magi Kinder too!

_I-I-I-I-I-I_

Homura Akemi woke with a start. Panic coursed through her. She had been dreaming, that shouldn't have happened. She was normally woken by a nurse, but that nurse was nowhere to be found. Just how long had she slept? She prayed to any god that would listen that she hadn't passed her month deadline. Homura had no idea what would change if she returned one day later. She'd miss the day where she was usually introduced, which usually had Kyubey first attempting to contract her.

No, she was only jumping to conclusions. She had not been in a coma or anything of the like, as she had fortified her body using magic and had probably just overslept by a few hours. Everything was fine, there was nothing to worry about. Besides, if she had infact been in a comatose state, she'd be hearing the beep of machinery and nurses rushing in to talk to her. This had occurred to her many times before she contracted, so the procedure was familiar. A weak heart put a lot of strain on the body and brain.

In her panicked state, she hadn't originally noticed the familiar room, but now dread was filling her once more as she came down from her original panic.

This was her actual bedroom, the one in her father's house. Maybe that was why she never noticed it at first, as she had been originally used to waking up there. Even though her purple quilted blanket usually provided her comfort, it wasn't doing anything of that sort.

It was creepily nostalgic. Having a second floor room provided many advantages, an increased line of sight was one of them. From the ajar window, she could hear and see many birds flying around the property. There never were this many avian creatures in the lonely forest she remembered. There had to be at least one hundred. Suddenly, they all sprung from the wire on which they perched and had swiftly took flight. Something had disturbed their silence.

But why was it so silent? Homura craned her head to check the time at her bedside clock, but it wasn't displaying anything. It had been turned off. Why? Her father's mansion had many generators to ensure electricity. Something was off, including the fact that she was at her father's mansion. If she had been taken out of the hospital for some reason, it would have been her mother. Homura knew her father was beyond caring, which made this all the more strange.

Maybe her first coma theory was correct, but that still wouldn't explain why she was in her father's mansion. It was too far away from any medical distance for a comatose patient. Reclusive-ness was the name of her Father's game, he preferred to have a large property in the woods away from everyone else.

She still had her ring, which meant she had still contracted. If she had contracted then she should have woken up in the hospital. What could have caused such a divergence from normal? The tropes about being wary of time travel to the past were correct, but it was Homura's only goal to change the future. Even if she did do something to change the future, it shouldn't have affected anything when she reset the world.

Homura slowly rose from bed, almost falling down as she took her first step with her atrophied muscles. Her sturdy nightstand was what kept her upright. She looked down at the outfit worn by her, it was a sleeping gown of sorts. It was fancier than anything the wardrobe of her lonely apartment in town contained.

Regardless, Homura undressed and searched the drawers for an outfit. These weren't her clothes, but yet they were all her size. Had somebody bought these for her? Could it have been her father? No, it couldn't have been, but her mother certainly wouldn't be able to afford the brand that Homura recalled being way too overpriced.

She brought the clothing with her into the on-suite bathroom. Although, something was nagging at her. Why hadn't the grass been cut? She saw it when she first glanced out of the window, but her foggy mind hadn't found anything wrong. Her father was a man of order anf perfection. An unruly lawn would never happen as long as her father was around, so where was he? Shouldn't somebody have checked up on her or have heard the noises she made?

Homura wished to shower for two reasons. One, so that she can get clean, and two so that she could calmly alert to any others that she is awake. She debated whether there could be enemies nearby, but whoever brought her to this home had no foul intentions, or she probably wouldn't have woken up. When she checked her body for any injuries or suspicious markings, all she found was fair skin.

No water was coming from the shower head, nor any of the faucets. Homura felt more than uneasy. She wanted to leave this place immediately, something wasn't right. She quickly dressed herself and went for the door that lead out of her room. She jiggled the stiff handle and pushed, only for the door to be caught. The jingling of the chains barring the door shut seemed to be mocking her.

It wasn't a big deal, she could leave by the window and jump down in magical girl form to avoid injury. Homura was leaving for sure, and in all honesty, she had no idea what to do. This wasn't like anything she had ever dealt with, so she was completely blind in this unknown situation.

Although the window was stiff and required a bit of jiggling to push open, she could easily fit through the large antique window. Why her father bought and used worn pieces of everything was unknown, he had many strange hobbies, none of which she even tried to understand.

Homura briskly transformed and hopped from the roof. She landed elegantly in the long grass mixed with wildflowers, and gasped loudly at the sight. The house had fallen into disrepair, plants were growing up the sides as if the meadow was fighting back and reclaiming its land. It was strangely beautiful in a way.

All of the confusion racing around her brain screeched to a halt when she saw the white haired Incubator jump up from behind a rock and land on the cracked and no-longer-working fountain.

* * *

Please review with constructive criticism. If you enjoyed this chapter, please state why in your review along with any other problems you find. This ensures that the problem will be likely fixed and my writing quality will improve. I will try to update weekly and updates may come earlier or later depending on what is going on in my life.


	2. Two

_(A/N~ Some of the information presented in this chapter may be innacurate, but i've used the wiki as much as I can to fully emerge my very few readers. If anything is too troubling, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment explaining what and why. I'd also like to apologize for the late chapter, although I'll probably be posting updates every friday)_

 

_Homura Akemi:_

 

The demon strode out before her. It paced elegantly along the rim of the worn down concrete fountain. Its gaze was analyzing, but that was to be expected. What did this creature want, and how did it find her so fast? Maybe the incubator just happened to be near her father's mansion. No, that was unlikely. There were no such things as coincidences, at least, not when Incubators were involved. Hatred coursed through her. All of her suffering and trouble was caused by that magenta eyed serial killer. That's what it would be called, considering it was responsible for the death of girls all through human history. What did this horseman of despair want?

 

It didn't matter, she wanted it dead. Kyubey died so easily. His body was quite fragile, but he had many copies. It was annoying, why couldn't the creature just stay dead? Maybe entropy wasn't that bad, if this was the cost of delaying it. The creature was now laying lifeless with a bullet hole between its eyes. And that's how she thought it should be.

 

Predictable. Kyubey jumped from the roof of her father's mansion and onto the cracked pavement beside her, before gobbling up his previous vessel. He looked up at her, his empty eyes meeting her stoic ones.

 

_Why are you being hostile towards me. No, I should be asking why you are a magical girl. A large percentage of them- if not all, have fallen during the outbreak. Since there are so few, I know each and every one of them that are alive. You are not one of them, Homura Akemi._

 

There were numerous things Kyubey said that pissed her off. Why was he acting as if she was the evil one? She was exterminating pests to mankind. The incubators were predators and needed to be dealt with. Barely anybody else knew of this unseen enemy, Homura was basically doing god's work.

 

That bit of information hadn't passed her though. What was the outbreak, and was it connected to her different awakening? It was likely, considering there was nothing of the sorts in her previous time lines. Kyubey hadn't spoken a word about it or anything related. Not ever. What could it have been that killed all of the magical girls? Was it Walpurgisnacht?

 

“I'm sorry, my hand slipped because you frightened me. Tell me more about the outbreak.”

 

Homura was scolding herself. She shouldn't have attacked kyubey, who might have told her valuable information about whatever was going on. He probably never believed her bad excuse anyway. What sort of person got scared by an ironically cute creature multiple moments after it originally had showed up?

 

_You seem quite upset at me. However I won't press the matter any further. If you must know, the outbreak was a pandemic that killed quickly and reanimated the dead. Most of the human population have perished, but there are a few survivors._

 

She needed a moment to think over the words previously spoken. So basically everyone is dead and zombies? Normally, she would have laughed it off, but this was quite concerning. Watching zombie shows was nice, but actually living one wouldn't be. She knew how tough things could get, and those were only situations appropriate to show on television. This was no laughing matter, besides, how was she going to clean her soul gem if mostly all of the magical girls have perished?

 

“How are humans infected?” Homura inquired, wanting to know to keep herself safe.

 

Kyubey paused, as if deciding if telling her would be a good idea. This caused Homura to be weary of anything it would be saying, even more so than usual. Besides, from how media portrayed them, the infection was probably spread by fluids. She just had to avoid being caught. That was only a guess, because it was very unlikely a virus from a TV show would happen to appear and kill everyone in the world. That begged another question, why now? She should be back at her hospital room, and none of this should be happening. Her month should be normal, well, as normal for a magical girl of course. Maybe there was something she did, like stir in her sleep and knock over a nurse holding a bacteria sample. That was the most probable and likely thing she could come up with, considering the plague would definitely have been caused directly or indirectly by her.

 

_All bodily fluids. Avoid being bitten or scratched and you will be fine._

 

She figured it would be like this. However, it was an uncanny coincidence that the virus had all of the tropes from the most famous zombie themed media. Was it a coincidence at all? Maybe it was some sort of bio chemistry attack that she inadvertently caused.

 

“Thank you for the valuable information. Do you have any idea where we are or where I can find supplies?”

 

Unfortunately, Homura hadn't been to this home in a decade, the last time she slept here was in elementary school, and she never remembered too much from that period of time.

 

Kyubey swished its tail before responding.

 

_You are in the outskirts of Georgia and on the Akemi estate. You should be able to find a surplus of supplies in this mansion, but you may run into the infected! However If you fight witches and bring me a grief seed, I can use the energy left over after I consume it to make food and supplies out of thin air! You even get a grief seed to clean your soul gem along with extra rewards. Its much better than risking becoming infected, right? I think it would be better for you to find a witch first so you can get some supplies before trying to loot this mansion._

 

So incubators were evil even during an apocalypse? It figured, she expected nothing less of the scum. She'd prefer to be infected than die at the hands of a witch. They were horrid and always consumed the body. At least if she was sick her body would be found, even if reanimated and causing grief for others.

 

Kyubey's previous statement raised more questions than answers. How did witches even exist anymore? He said that most of them had been killed, which was probably code for hatched, but shouldn't Kyubey understand that with the population at such a low, risking the life of young females was too much of a risk? What if the incubators took off more than they could chew and ended up killing off the human race by removing the new female adolescents? It was bugging her, they should know better than that, because if the human race was unable to produce more females, then they wouldn't hatch into witches and prolong the life of the universe.

 

Homura was sick of feigning ignorance. She needed Kyubey to know her stance, she wasn't going to be tricked this time.

 

“No, becoming a zombie is far more favorable than what you have in store for those innocent children.”

 

Homura spoke angrily with a tone she never even knew she had. It was as if she was holding herself responsible for every time something went wrong in each of her timelines.

 

Kyubey cocked its head, probably intrigued. However, it was quite difficult to find any emotion at all on the creature. Its eyes were always empty and beady, therefore impossible to tell what it was feeling. It was a fitting trait, for creatures unable to feel emotion. 

 

_ What would that be, Homura Akemi? _

 

She hated hearing her name spoken by that creature. It never deserved to even know her name. It was a filth that plagued the history of Humanity. Worse than any plague or disaster known to mankind, these creatures planed to continue on forever.

 

“The final form of Magical Girls. Witches.”

 

Her words were absolute, like a gavel sentencing a convict to death. That truth had been known to her since the very first timelines. It had always plagued and raged on in a dark corner of her mind. Would she eventually become what she feared most? It would happen to her eventually, and she knew that too. Yet that was what she dreaded the most, becoming a witch and hurting her friends. What was being a witch like anyway? It seemed really painful, as most witches seemed to be suffering. She couldn't tell just by looking, but something like a whisper in the back of her mind told her so. Didn't witches lose the memory of their previous life? That was something she was conflicted about. Wouldn't it be better for everyone just to forget about her so she'd never fail to save anyone again?

 

The incubator wasn't long responding, as if he was expecting her to already know.

 

_ How do you know this information? _

 

She didn't even bother to look back. Homura Akemi had been down this overgrown stone pathway before as a child and had a slight idea of where she was heading. This path would lead her to the driveway which led to a road who she knew would take her to a highway. She had all the protection she needed in her shield, but would witches really be that easy to find? If most of the magical girls had fallen, which probably meant finished incubating, then that would mean the witches had a long time to fester and grow stronger on Human energy.

 

Homura regretted saying anything, but her hatred had blinded her from thinking straight. Now Kyubey would be on her back, why had she lashed out? This was too much. Kyubey was staring at her again, and she wanted nothing more than to go stomp on its head to get her anger out. She'd never do that of course, because letting her emotions show was dangerous, so she needed to hide behind her stoic mask that was always to be worn.

 

Kyubey darted out from a bush, and to be honest, she was quite relieved. Of course Homura would never admit it out loud, but she needed help. This new world was unknown to her, and going out blind was too risky. What if she got infected? Would her time reversing powers save her, or not? She was usually the only thing not affected by the time loop, so did that mean the sickness would also remain unaffected?

 

_ I can only try to understand your anger towards me, but for the most part, its illogical. However I could use an experienced magical girl to keep the witch population under control. I'm unsure if you are aware of this, but witches are much more different now. They can be called warlocks too, considering I have already contracted an adolescent male and are planning to recruit more of both genders. I would normally only contract females, considering they mature faster and are more emotional during that stage. Since there are so few adolescents at all, I've decided to also contract males but give them a slight boost as their wishes aren't as potent as one made by a female. _

 

It made sense, but in a horrible twisted way. All of the normal children had already died or were dying, so that just meant Kyubey had to steal away so many others. The fate of humanity did look grim, but there was really nothing she could do. The damage had already been done, so even if she did rewind time, she could only go back a month. And from what she could tell, her sleep had been much longer than so.

 

Although, maybe she was overreacting, because she really hadn't seen the state of the world, and only her immediate but run down surroundings.

 

Maybe she'd finally get to live a normal life, but she knew that would never happen. Homura would never dwell on the thought too long, as she regularly feared falling into despair. She had tried seeing a therapist to keep her sanity, but one could only do so much lying before their therapist would quit. After all, they couldn't solve your problems if they never knew about them. That's why she wanted to be friends with everyone at first. 

 

Homura was going to respond apathetically, but Kyubey beat her to it.

 

_ There are three kinds of witches now. The first kind, Survivor Witches are from normal people who have given into despair or have been overcome by a negative emotion. These are the weakest of the three, because they do not have such energy as a Magi Kinder, which is a non gendered version of magical girl or boy. Second, are the normal Witches. They are magical boys or girls that have fallen into despair and hatched into witches, and are the second strongest. Last of all and most frightening and strong, are the Fallen Witches, who used to be magical girls before the plague until they hatched right at the start. Since I haven't contracted any Magic kinder since the outbreak, they have been left to fester and grow stronger. They are a force to be reckoned with, and are dangerously strong. For your information, Witches will also target zombies in large quantities as they are very weak prey and require little to not effort to kiss. Zombies still retain their souls by the way, but they are locked away within the dead body controlled by the plague. As long as the body is still alive, then so is the soul. Even if the body is still alive by other means, then so is the soul. _

 

Although Homura was unsure of the Validity of wha Kyubey spoke, it did sound logical and true. That didn't mean the Incubator wasn't holding any information back. She wouldn't bother asking for any other bits of info, because it wouldn't be told to her anyway. Kyubey would probably tell her the information wasn't important at the time or something in similar words. Survivor Witches shouldn't exist, considering witches were only born from Puella Magi or whatever the Incubator called it now.

Maybe the world was so devestated and filled with grief and despair that someone's soul could turn into a grief seed and hatch. Considering the fact that her soul had been turned into a soul gem, it was possible it could also turn straight into a grief seed and skip the soul gem step.

 

_ This is only a theory, because I haven't seen one for myself, but the Fallen Witches could be able to appear outside of a labyrinth. There was a witch like that before the plague, but it had been killed just before the plague began. _

 

Walpurgisnacht? Somebody had killed Walpurgisnacht? No, the Incubator must have been talking about some other witch, because the only thing she knew could really kill the world stage witch was Madoka.. Homura stopped herself from lingering on that thought for too long, she knew what would happen if she gave into the familiar tug whenever Madoka died in any of her time-lines. While most magical girls were fully consumed by that pulling sensation, Homura had learned to ignore it whenever it made itself known. That was why she hadn't turned into a witch yet, that strength was the only thing keeping her soul gem as a soul gem, and also cleaning it of course.

 

_ I can bring you to my first Magi Kinder if you'd like. He has a group of survivors that are likely to take you in so you can survive together. His power as Magi Kinder is strong, so I'm sure you'd be able to become good partners. It would be best for you to return her for supplies when have more people. _

 

Homura wouldn't become his partner. She'd still go with them though, any experienced people that could survive in this world could also help her, hopefully everything about this new world was known to at least a few people.. Either way, she had vowed to only care for one person, Madoka. But if she had been defeated after killing Walpurgisnacht, did that rule still apply? She needed to know exactly who had killed the witch and when. She'd still go with them though, any experienced people that could survive in this world could also help her, who didn't know everything about this new world

 

“Who had killed the strong witch, and when?”

 

Kyubey cocked his head, trying to figure out why Homura had asked that question. She tried to make her question as neutral as possible, so the Incubator wouldn't gain any information about her just from unnecessary words. She had been that way too other normal people too, out of habit and also to prevent anyone from distracting her by trying to be friends. If she appeared cold and boring, then nobody would try and befriend her, thus distracting her from her one goal, saving Madoka. Was this rule nullified now too? Even if it turned out it was Madoka who had already sacrificed herself, unnecessary words just put her at risk of letting emotion run free, which would eventually lead to her downfall that all Magi kinder face.

 

_ Madoka Kaname. Just before the outbreak began. Roughly a year, give or take.  _

 

That same tug was back, and now it was stronger than before. Everything in her fought it, and it was easily defeated, considering her soul gem was perfectly clean, save for a slightly pinprick of black caused by her transformation. Homura held back a sob as she undid her transformation and flipped her hair, using the motion to sneakily wipe away a tear that had formed. This was it. Madoka was dead. Homura could hardly believe it, but why hadn't she turned into a witch yet? She couldn't even feel a curse forming, why hadn't she hatched?

 

_ I wont pry, but you seem to know her. If it makes you feel any better, she died but her sacrifice will save millions of people who would have otherwise been killed by the witch, and also a few magical girls too. _

 

No, it didn't matter, because Madoka was still dead and there was nothing she could do about it. In all honesty, now that she thought about it, the only thing that kept her curse from growing was that she still thought she'd be able to save her. 

 

“Before we go, I have one question for you. How do I make my magic stronger?”

 

If her magic could improve, then that meant she could probably make her magic strong enough to go back even further than a month. This was her anchor, anchor against despair. 

 

_ Yes, whenever a grief seed is used on a soul gem and its corruption disappears, the gem is strengthened, and therefore the user strengthens and so does their magic. I can feel you are a strong Magical girl, surely you must feel some sort of change. _

 

Now that she thought about it, Homura Akemi did feel a change. She had gradually been able to stop time for longer and longer, and accomplish more in the time stasis. Her shield was also able to store more than when she was a rookie, but she chalked that up to experience and no actual physical change. Homura hadn't attempted to go back further than a month, because that's as far as she knew she could go. What Kyubey said had fascinated her, so did that mean she was currently able to travel back further than a month and eventually go back far enough to save Madoka again? The possibility excited her, even if she had to wait a grueling month before the sands completely returned and she'd be able to reverse time.

 

__ II-II-II-II-II-II _ _

__ Carl Grimes: _ _

_ Carl was always impatient, especially while waiting for a magical creature to come back so he'd get to use his superpowers. He had began to think it was all a dream of sorts, but he quickly changed the form of his ring and played around with what it could be to solidify that this was actually happening. It took basically any form he wanted, as long as it was smaller than the original gem of course. _

_ A brooch was too old-lady-like for him, but it did look nice. An amulet was nice too, but he hated the feeling of anything around his neck, it felt suffocating. The bracelet was just plain ugly, as it looked like one of those hospital medical alert things. He stuck with the ring, as it was the simplest and nicest looking thing, besides, he didn't know how to explain how he lost a ring and ended up with a new piece of jewelry that had the same designs. _

_ His mother wanted to take a look at it, so he nervously agreed. If he were to act strange, then it would raise suspicions, but he trusted his mother anyway so he didn't have to worry about protecting it because she'd only have it for a few seconds. She complimented it and said it looked nice, and he was lucky because it matched his cowboy hat. However she found the writing at the bottom strange and voiced her opinion on it to him. Carl shrugged in response, he didn't know why the runes were so weird. _

_ Carl slipped the ring back on his left hand and exited the tent, after hearing his mother warning him explicitly to remain on camp and be safe of course. He knew how dangerous it could be, and appreciated his mother's worry. She had told him that meant that she cared, which actually made a lot of sense now that he thought about it. _

_ Waiting was seriously dragging him down, so that only made his anxiousness rise. What if Kyubey never returned? If that happened, would he ever learn to use his powers and fight Witches? What about warlocks, where they any different? What if Kyubey had returned, but hadn't seen him or he hadn't seen him? Carl assumed Kyubey was male, considering its voice sounded masculine yet innocent and soft in nature. _

_ Carl wanted to be the first one to see the creature, just in case one of the group people shot it accidentally thinking it was some kind of walker. Now Carl knew it didn't look like a walker, but everybody was tense nowadays, so they'd probably just shoot first out of instinct. That was something which would probably spell the end of his soon to come heroism. He'd never be able to protect anyone if Kyubey was killed. _

_ He searched the campsite for a vantage point he could use to spot Kyubey first. It was the RV that caught his eye. Dale was lounging there on top with a pair of binoculars in hand. He was shielded from the sun with a red and white striped parasol. It looked relaxing, but he posed a thread. It was likely he'd be the first one to spot Kyubey if any. He was a smart guy, but that just meant he wouldn't think of it as some sort of walker hybrid, which was even more dangerous. He feared Dale figuring out his secret, he was very intelligent and logical. If anybody found out, so would his mother, and if his mother found out, she'd worry about his safety and wouldn't let him protect them regardless of his powers. _

_ Climbing the ladder at the back of the RV was easier than he remembered. His hands never felt sore and his muscles never ached after he hauled himself up. He moved swiftly enough to surprise himself, the look on Carl's face giving away his astonishment to the older man who had put down his binoculars and was now raising an eyebrow to him. He was probably expecting an explanation as to why he had climbed up, and why there was a surprised look on his face. Maybe he thought there was some sort of danger, but Carl quickly relaxed his expression to a more neutral one to hopefully quell his worries. _

_ “I'm sure your mother doesn't want you up here. What if you fell and broke a bone, what would we do?” _

_ Carl hated it when adults thought he was a little kid, but that was to be expected of course. Even though the disaster and walkers had matured him mentally by a few years, he still retained a few childish characteristics although he'd never admit it. He'd be careful enough not to fall off, but that wouldn't happen anyway, and couldn't he use his magic to heal himself up? It was magic after all, but he never knew exactly what it was his power could do. Falling wasn't really a threat anyway, as the fall was only really two meters or so. _

_ The boy stood proud on top of the vehicle, he could feel the vernal breeze once more brushing against his face and arms. He looked down to Shane, who had been splitting a log. Shane gave him a thumbs up, which really meant a lot. Carl thought of Shane as a father figure, as his real father had passed away. He didn't like thinking about it or talking about it to either his mother or Shane, it made them upset. However he did talk about him sometimes to Sophia and Amy.  _

_ He stumbled slightly, but regained his balance. He dreadfully looked back to Dale who simply shook his head back at him. _

_ Suddenly, Dale whipped the vision enhancing tool to his eye and focused in on one spot, where Carl could see something red moving along with something white. Where they cars, had the group returned? There was also a sound that had been creeping up on him. At first, Carl thought it to be a side effect of the magic, but now he could hear the car alarm loud and clear. _

_ Dale's voice was surprisingly energetic. _

_ “Everybody! They're back!” _

 

 


End file.
